Ball retarder for bowling alleys



Aug. 11, 1942'. c GERALD BALL RETARDER FORBOWLING ALLEYS Filed April 14, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 152 yen 2'0 4 fiarZeS fierwZgi Aug. 11, 1942.

C. GERALD BALL RETARDER FORiBOWLING ALLEYS 7 Filed April 14; 1941 2' Sheets-Sheet 2 vzvfszz Zvr C'wZe/s Ger-42a Patented Aug. 11, 1942 STAT E s ear EN T FF ICE,

BALL BET-ARDER Eon BOWLING AIaErs.

Charles Gerald, Chicago, Ill. 7 Application April 14, 1941, Serial No. 388,370- cols. (cl. 273-47 This invention relates toa ball retarder for bowling alleys and more particularly to a device for retarding the movement of bowling balls on returnways.

One oftheobjects of the invention is to pro vide a device which will effectively retard the movement of a. bowling ball; on the returnway of a bowling alley by first absorbing the impact of the ball and. then allowing the ball to slowly continue. to the return rack with its speed checked.

Another object of this invention is toprovide a retarding device which will automatically accommodate itself to various sizes of balls,' and which requires, no maintenance after installation.

A further object of this invention is to provide a retarding device which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and to install.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the description progresses. A

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of my bowling ball retarder and associated parts embodying my invention.

t Fig. 2 is a front elevational view partly in secion.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and showing in dotted lines the position of certain of the parts as the ball is passing thereunder.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the position of the parts as the ball continues its travel to the return rack.

Fig. 5 is a front elevational view taken on line 55 'of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross sectional view of details of construction. 4

Referring to the drawings wherein is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral I 0 indicates a returnway of a bowling alley, formed of a pair of rails I2 on which the balls are intended to travel in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 1. The rails I2 are supported at one end on the cross portion l3 of the supports M. A pair of rails I5 extending rearwardly of the returnway are secured at one end to the cross portion 13 of the supports M. A pair of rails l5 extending rearwardly of the returnway are secured at one end to the cross portion l3 of the supports I 4 and at the other end to a support [6. These latter rails constitute a rack on which the balls come to rest.

The supports l4 extend above the returnway l secured against lateral movement.

l0 and rails, l5 and are bowed asat I1, as shown in Fig. 2. Mounted above the bowedportions of the supports I 4 is a housing It} having a pair of side walls l9, an inclined back 20, atop 2|, and an open front. Mounted within said housing and extending through the front thereof is the ball retarding mechanism indicated generally by the numeral 22 and presently to be described. The said mechanism comprises a cylinder 23. formed of a pair of upper and lower cylinder heads 24 and'25jhaving annular flanges 26 and 2! respectively, for supporting a tubular body 23, the parts being held together by suitable fastening bolts 29. A boss 24a is integrally formed with the upper cylinder head 24 and is drilled at right angles to the axis of the cylinder to accommodate a pin anchored in the side walls of the housing. The cylinder is thereby pivotally supported and is arranged for pivotal movement Within the housing.

Movably mounted within the cylinder 23 for' reciprocating movement therein is a piston 33 formed of apair of discs 3| and 32 between which is interposed aflanged leather gasket 33. The

said piston is supported on a shoulder 35 provided at the upper, end of a piston rod 34 and is secured thereto by a threaded nut 36. Interposed between the cylinder head 24 and the piston disc 3| is a coil spring 3'! which is suitably The lower cylinder head 25 is provided with a boss 38 through which the piston rod extends. "The opening in. the boss 38 is lined with an oil gasket bearing 39 to accommodate the piston rod 34, The said piston rod is'provided with a centralbore 40 which'communicates' with the interior of the cylinder 23 and with the atmosphere through a, threaded aperture 42 arranged to receive a threaded valve screw 52, presently to be described. i

Mounted on the lower end of the piston rod 34, is a'couplingmember M'Which supports a spindle 45. Supported on the ends of the spindle 45 are rubber rollers 46 having integrally formed spacing collars 41. The rollers as Well as the collars are freely rotatable on the spindle.

Pivotally supported at the forward portion of the housing by a pivot rod 48 which is suitably secured to the side walls of the housing are a pair of links 49, the lower ends of which have openings to receive the spindle 45. Suitable nuts 50 are provided on each end of the rod for retaining the parts in assembled relation.

for receiving the valve screw 52, the said screw having a communicating recess 53 and serving as a valve for adjusting the flow of air from and into the cylinder 23.

While I have shown the spring 31 as a coil spring, I have found in actual practice that the use of a telescopic spring or a spiral coil spring which telescopes permits great flexibility, for the reason that the piston can be moved further upwardly in the cylinder. As shown in Fig. 4, the spring can be further compressed to accommodate a ball of a larger size.

With the use of my invention any regulation ball regardless of its size can be employed and.

this device will accommodate itself to eflective- 1y retard such ball, also any regulation ball weighing between 8 and 16 pounds can be effectively retarded with the same constant action.

I have found that the use of a piston operating in an air cylinder permits a more constant action as compared to an oil filled cylinder or the like wherein the oil reacts to folimaticcon ditions. However, this invention can be used with oil or like filled cylinders as well.'

The rotating and moving parts of the construction all operate within bearings and where such bearings are used, I prefer the" use"of Oilite bearings which themselves lubricate the parts and require no further maintenance;

The operation of the device is as'follow's. With the parts in their normal position,i.'e'., in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, a bowling ball travelling on the returnway will'strike the rubber rollers 46 which arefreelyrotatable and will first cause them to move to the left describing an arc, with the links 43 as the radial arms. The piston 30 thereby begins its compression stroke and slightly compresses the spring'3' and initially absorbing the impact of theball. The ball continues to move with the rollers 46 which will cause the pivotally mounted link'members 49 to swing to the dotted line position of Fig. 3'

and the position shown in Fig. 4; Simultaneously the cylinder 23 will be swung about its pivot' to the position shown in Fig. 4 and as this move ment takes place, the piston correspondingly is being moved upwardly in the cylinder against the tension of the spring 31. After the ball passes under the rollers 46, the spring 31 will kick back the piston to its initial position and the parts will assume the normal nonoperative position shown in full lines in Fig. 3. The net effect of this operation is that the speed of the ball ischecked at the end of the first impact and that thereafter in the continued operation of this device the ball is slowly returned to its supporting rack.

To regulate the speed of operation of the device the valve screw 52 may be adjusted to con trol the passage of air from and into the cylinder.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example of thesame,

and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangements of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a bowling ball retarder, including a runway for balls, a pivotally mounted cylinder positioncd above said runway and having a reciprocating piston, a rod connected to said piston ball engaging means mounted on the end of the rod movable with the pivoted movement of said cylinder and the reciprocating movement of said piston, pivotal link members operatively connected to said ball engaging means and pivotally movable therewith.

2. In a bowling ball retarder, including a runway for the balls, a housing, a pivotally mounted piston supported within said housing above said runway, a ball engaging member secured to said piston, said ball engaging member movable upwardly with said piston when engaged by a ball to permit the ball to pass under said ball engaging member. 7

3. In a bowling ball retarder, including a runway for the balls, a housing, a pivotally mounted yieldable member pivotally supported within said housing, a ball engaging member, means connecting said ball engaging member with said yieldable member, a link member pivotally supported on the housing opposite to the pivotal support of the yieldable member, said link member secured at its opposite end to said ball engaging member. v

4. In a bowling ball retarder, including a runway for the balls, a housing, a pivotally mounted yieldable member pivotally supported within said housing above said runway, said yieldable member supporting a ball engaging member, a link member pivotally supported on the housing and connected to said ball engaging member, said yieldable member yielding under the forward motion of the ball to permit the ball to pass under the said ball engaging member.

5. In a bowling ball retarder, including a runway for the balls, a pivotally mounted piston supported above said runway, a ball engaging member movable upwardly with said piston when said ball engaging member is engaged by a ball to permit the ball to pass under said ball engaging member.

6. In a bowling ball retarder, including a runway for the balls, a housing, a pivotally mounted yieldable member angularly supported within said housing above said runway, said yieldable member supporting a ball engaging member, a link pivotally supported on the housing and connected to said ball engaging member, said yieldable member yielding under the forward movement of the ball and movable rearwardly in an arcuate direction to permit the ball to pass under the said ball engaging member.

CHARLES GERALD. 

